COVID-19 Updates 

According to the New York Time’s COVID-19 Dashboard, there have been over 28 thousand new cases each day of COVID in the United States as of April 5. Around 769 cases are concentrated in Michigan, and out of the new daily Michigan cases, roughly 20 are in Kalamazoo County. These numbers appear to be stagnant among the statistics prior to KPS’s 2022 Spring Break.

Local / KPS News 

Loy Norrix senior class advisor Trisha Fires resigned from the position this week.

Loy Norrix students enter PSAT and SAT testing next week, with freshmen and sophomores training in Xello in addition to testing, and seniors working with the Kalamazoo Promise Pathway program in the absence of testing. 

Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education met on April 7 to offer a public board meeting, with one of the subjects being the current mask mandates in KPS buildings. They voted and decided to keep the mask mandate and plan to reevaluate on April 21. 

State News  

Michigan Republican Representative Fred Upton announced that he won’t be pursuing re-election.  Upton has been a U.S. Representative for 35 years.  On April 5, he announced his retirement, stating,“As a former Boy Scout, I believe in leaving the campground better than when you found it…Hopefully civility and bipartisanship versus discord can rule, not rue, the day,” the house floor press release reported.  

State Representative Mary Cavanagh has been charged with drunken driving.  Cavanagh was arrested on Feb. 25, which is the second time she has been arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated. The first was in 2015, when Cavanagh pleaded guilty and received a year of probation.   

National News

Oklahoma has joined a new wave of anti-abortion legislation. Senate Bill 612 prohibits all abortions except for when it is absolutely necessary to save the mother’s life. Now the bill is going to Governor Kevin Stitt, who proclaimed himself to be the “most pro-life governor.”

Anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy is currently being investiagted by Washington D.C. police in regards to five fetuses found in her basement. According to Handy’s claims to the police department, she and her colleguages at Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising were collecting evidence to show that Washington Surgical Clinic was allegedly performing illegal abortions. The investigation is ongoing. 

On Sunday, April 3, there was a mass shooting in Sacramento that left six dead. According to CNN, Sacramento Police Sgt. Zach Eaton said, “We believe at this point there are five shooters and the five shooters included two groups where there was an exchange of gunfire between the two groups.”

For over thiry years, police have been searching for the man dubbed the “1-65 killer” who was involved in the rape and murder of three women in Indiana and Kentucky. On Tuesday, April 5, the Indianapolis Star reported that, “Indiana State Police, alongside several federal and local agencies, identified Harry Edward Greenwell, who is now deceased, as the killer responsible.” Greenwell was identified through DNA evidence.  

The Biden Administration announced that it would be extending the student loan pause through August. Student loan payments have been postponed since the pandemic began. AP reported, “The action applies to more than 43 million Americans who owe a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt held by the federal government, according to the latest data from the Education Department.”

International News

So far, 410 dead civilians have been found in Ukraine as Russian forces retreat from territory they once held. The dead civilians were found with their hands bound in some cases and witnesses reported torture at the hands of the Russian soldiers. Addressing the U.N. Security Council Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that those who took part in the killings “must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes,” according to AP News.

The EU has plans to possibly ban the Russian sale of coal as part of a new set of sanctions following the news of torture and war crimes that Russia is responsible for. However natural gas has not been banned by the EU as members of the union are divided on whether to do so, and if it might send the continent into an economic depression due the need of Russian gas by most countries.

Shanghai remains locked down as COVID-19 spreads throughout the city. China is 90% vaccinated, however their vaccines are seen as weaker compared to vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The BA.2 variant that is believed to be behind the lockdown spreads faster but is less dangerous according to Yale Medicine.

Sports

Loy Norrix spring sports kicked off this week. Women’s soccer took on Kalamazoo Central and Niles High School on Tuesday. Women’s varsity won 12 to 0 against Niles with the mercy rule going into effect at halftime. Women’s JV soccer beat Kalamazoo Central 3 to 1. Both Knights soccer teams play Harper Creek on Thursday and Grand Ledge on Saturday.

Loy Norrix Women’s tennis lost 8 to 0 to Niles. The Knights will play Lakeshore High School on Monday.

The Men’s and Women’s March Madness Tournaments concluded during the week. 

1st ranked South Carolina beat 2nd ranked UConn 64 to 49 to win the women’s tournament. This is South Carolina’s second title win with the first win being in 2017.

1st ranked Kansas beat 8th ranked North Carolina 72 to 69 to win the men’s tournament. This is Kansas’s fourth title win with their last title win being in 2008.

Pro golfer Tiger Woods announced his return to golf and plans to play in the Masters Tournament.

The Notre Dame football team announced that they will play Tennessee State in 2023. This will be the first time ever that Notre Dame will play against a HBCU football team. The game is scheduled for September 2nd on NBC.